Part 172 (2/2)

Petals unequal. Perfect stamens 3; filaments naked.

2. Tradescantia. Bracts leaf-like or small and scarious. Petals equal.

Perfect stamens 6; filaments bearded.

1. COMMELNA, Dill. DAY-FLOWER.

Flowers irregular. Sepals somewhat colored, unequal; the 2 lateral partly united by their contiguous margins. Two lateral petals rounded or kidney-shaped, on long claws, the odd one smaller. Stamens unequal, 3 of them fertile, one of which is bent inward; 3 of them sterile and smaller, with imperfect cross-shaped anthers; filaments naked. Capsule 3-celled, two of the cells 2-seeded, the other 1-seeded or abortive.--Stems branching, often proc.u.mbent and rooting at the joints.

Leaves contracted at base into sheathing petioles; the floral one heart-shaped and clasping, folded together or hooded, forming a spathe enclosing the flowers, which expand for a single morning and are recurved on their pedicel before and afterwards. Petals blue. Flowering all summer. Ours all with perennial roots, or propagating by striking root from the joints. (Dedicated to the early Dutch botanists. _J._ and _G. Commelin_.)

[*] _Ventral cells 2-ovuled (usually 2-seeded), the dorsal 1-ovuled._

1. C. nudiflra, L. _Slender and creeping_, glabrous; leaves lanceolate, small (1--2' long); spathe cordate, acute, _with margins not united; seeds reticulated_. (C. Cayennensis, _Richard._)--Alluvial banks, Del.

to Fla., west to Ind., Mo. and Tex.

2. C. hirtella, Vahl. _Stout, erect_ (2--4 high); leaves large, lanceolate, _the sheaths brown-bearded_; spathes crowded, _with margins united; seeds smooth_. (C. erecta, _Gray_, Man., not _L._)--River-banks, Penn. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

[*][*] _Cells 1-ovuled, 1-seeded; seeds smooth; spathe cucullate; roots sub-tuberous_.

3. C. erecta, L. Slender, often low; _leaves linear; cells all dehiscent_.--Penn. to Fla.

4. C. Virginica, L. Slender, usually tall; _leaves lanceolate_ to linear; _dorsal cell indehiscent, scabrous_.--Damp rich woods and banks, southern N. Y. to Fla., west to Mich., Iowa, and Mo.

2. TRADESCaNTIA, L. SPIDERWORT.

Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile.

Stamens all fertile; filaments bearded. Capsule 2--3-celled, the cells 1--2-seeded.--Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. Leaves keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled cl.u.s.ters, axillary and terminal, produced through the summer; floral leaves nearly like the others. (Named for the elder _Tradescant_, gardener to Charles the First of England.)

[*] _Umbels terminal or sometimes lateral, sessile, subtended by 1 or 2 leaf-like bracts; leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, flowers blue._

1. T. Virginica, L. (COMMON SPIDERWORT.) Roots fleshy-fibrous, smooth or only slightly villous, more or less glaucous, often tall and slender and with linear leaves, rather rarely with 1 or 2 long lateral peduncles; bracts usually a pair.--Rich ground, N. Y. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the Rocky Mts. Very variable.--Var. VILLSA, Watson. Often dwarf, more or less villous throughout as well as p.u.b.escent. Mississippi valley and Gulf States.--Var. FLEXUSA, Watson. Stout and dark green, with large linear-lanceolate p.u.b.escent leaves, the stem usually flexuous, and with several short lateral branches or sessile axillary heads. (T.

flexuosa, _Raf._)--Ohio to Ky. and Ga. T. pilosa, _Lehm._, is an intermediate form.

[*][*] _Umbel pedunculate, subtended by small subscarious bracts; flowers small, rose-color._

2. T. rsea, Vent. Small, slender (6--10' high), smooth, erect from a running rootstock; leaves very narrowly linear, gra.s.s-like.--Sandy woods, Md. to Fla., west to Ky. and Mo.

ORDER 121. JUNCaCEae. (RUSH FAMILY.)

_Gra.s.s-like or rush-like herbs, with small flowers, a regular and hypogynous persistent perianth of 6 similar glumaceous sepals, 6 or rarely 3 stamens with 2-celled anthers, a single short style, 3 filiform hairy stigmas, and an ovary either 3-celled or 1-celled with 3 parietal placentae, forming a loculicidal 3-valved capsule._ Seeds anatropous, with a minute embryo enclosed at the base of the fleshy alb.u.men.--Flowers liliaceous in structure, but sedge-like in aspect and texture.

1. Juncus. Capsule 3-celled (or imperfectly so), many-seeded. Plants never hairy, in moist ground or water.

2. Luzula. Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded. Plant, often hairy, in dry ground.

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